1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to a control mechanism of an automotive transmission, and more particularly to a shift control mechanism of a manual transmission which is particularly adaptable for use in a front-wheel-drive automotive vehicle having a transversely mounted engine.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the transmission of the type mentioned above, the shift control mechanism is so arranged that the control rod actuated by the manual shift level in the vehicle cabin extends perpendicular to the fork shaft on which the shift forks slide axially. Thus, a so-called direction changing device is equipped between the control rod and the shift forks, which functions to convert the axial movement of the control rod to a sliding movement of selected one of the shift forks along the axis of the fork shaft. One of the direction changing devices is disclosed in Japanese laid-open Utility Model Application No. 48-19691, which comprises a plurality of L-shaped pivoting levers which are pivotally mounted on a common pivoting pin directly secured to the housing of the transmission, one end of each pivoting lever being pivotally jointed with an extension of the corresponding shift fork and the other end of the lever being selectively engageable with a head member secured to the control rod, so that upon a selecting operation of the control rod achieved by rotation thereof about its axis, the head member is brought into engagement with the other end of a selected pivoting lever, and upon a shifting operation of the rod achieved by the axial movement thereof after the selecting operation, the selected pivotting lever is rotated about the common pivoting pin in a given direction to move the corresponding shift fork along the fork shaft thereby to establish a given gear ratio. However, because of the inherent arrangement of the device of that application (originating from the fact that the common pivoting pin for the pivoting levers is directly secured to the transmission housing), the mounting of the pivoting levers to the transmission housing is obliged to take an assembling procedure wherein the pivoting levers are individually and by turns mounted to the common pivoting pin which is previously secured to the transmission housing. This assembling procedure is time-consuming work or troublesome and causes difficulty in positioning the pivotting levers into predetermined proper positions in the transmission housing. In fact, it often becomes necessary to readjust their positions after assembly of them in the housing.